Intermittent feed for machines



.Hufiy 19244 4,499,441

L. L. BOLSTIEAD INTERMITTENT FEED FOR MACHINES led Nov. 23, 1922 aShawls-Enlist 1 1,41%,441 1.. L. BOLSTEAD INTERMITTBNT FEED FOR MACHINES1922 2 Shams-Sheet 2 LEWVEAN L. BOLSTEAD, 0F OCONOMOWOC, WISCONSIN.

INTERMIITENT FEED FOR MAGHINES.

Application filed November 23, 1922. Serial No. 602,836.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LnWvnAN L. BOL- STEAD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Oconomowoc, in the county of Waukesha and Stateof Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments inIntermittent Feed for Machines; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention relates toa mechanism for producing intermittent motionand to a machine which includes such mechanism.

Objects of this invention are to provide a mechanism in which continuousrotary motion is transformed into intermittent rotary motion, in which agradual speeding up and a gradual slowing down of the intermittentlymoved part is secured at the start and finish, respectively, of each ofits movements, in which a dwell or pause of predetermined length issecured, and in which the intermittently moved part is positively lockedduring the dwell.

Further objects are to provide a machine for individually feedingarticles in'an intermittent manner, in which a dwell is given eacharticle at one point in its feeding motion, and in which simplicity ofconstruction is attained.

Further objects are to provide a machine which will operate sucoesslvelyupon a series of articles; which will pick up each article, hold itstill, stamp it, and pass it on; and which will perform its severalfunctions with a minimum of jarring or jolting of the article.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine.

Figure 2 is a plan view shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

of the structure nlsm.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of the actuating crank arm, roller, andone of the slots of the intermittently moved member.

Figure 6 is' a sectional view 011 the line 66 of Figure 4:.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, it will be seen that themachine comprises a framework provided with uprights land 2 at theforward and rear ends of Figure 4 is a detail of the locking mechathemachine and these uprights are connected by longitudinal bracing members3 and 4. A convenient construction for this machine is to provide eitherchannel or angle irons for the bracing members and to provide transversebracing members 5 of angle irons fitted into the corners of theframework as may be seen from Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings, Afeedway is provided for the machine and is preferably formed of twoopposed members provided with inwardly directed flanges 6, (see Figures2 and 3). These flanges provide a support for the articles 7 as they arefed through the machine.

It is intended that the articles shall be fed in any desired mannerforexample, a gravity feed may be employed to bring the articles up to therotary intermittently oper ated member to be hereinafter more fullydescribed.

The machine chosen for illustration is primarily adapted for thestamping of cylindrical cans, such as milk cans, for instance, where itis desirable to give a batch number to the entire lot and eitherindividual numbers or dates to the different cans. However, it is to beunderstood that the detail description and drawing are to be interpretedas illustrative of any machine of this general type and the invention isto be limited only as defined in the appended claims.

A pair of discs 8 are rigidly mounted upon a horizontal shaft 9 mountedtrans- Versely of the machine and beneath the feed- Way. These discs areconnected with each other by means of a plurality of bars or rods 10,such rods being spaced apart a dis-- tance slightly less than thediameter of the cans 7. The'outer end of the shaft 9 is provided with adisc 11 which is rigidly secured thereto. This disc is provided with aplurality of radial slots 12 and with peripheral notches 13, which, infact, may form a continuation of the slots.

It will be seen from Figure 3 that as the shaft 9 rotates in thedirection of the arrow, the cans will be lifted into position directlyover the center of the shaft 9 and from there will be passed to theother side of the guideway and will be discharged from the machine.

A second transverse shaft 1a is mounted within bearings upon the lowerlongitudinal bracing member 3 of the framework. This shaftha-s rigidlysecured thereto a relatively large gear which is driven from a smallerpinion 16, such pinion being. conveniently carried by a third shaft 17provided with the driven pulley 18, if desired. The outer end of theshaft 14 is provided with a crank arnr 19 which carries an inwardlydirected projecting portion which may consist of a roller 20 mountedupon a pin 21 securedto'the outer end of-the crank arm19, as maybeclearly seen from Figures 4 and 5. I

-From the construction thus far described, it will be seen that when theshaft 14 is rotated in the direction indicated by'the arrow in Figure 1that the projection on the crank will enter one of the slots 12 and asit rocksdownwardly', will slide inwardly that the crank entersandleav'es the slots in of the slot and rotate the disc 11 one slotpitch, or the CliStaHCGbPillW-n the successive slots. It is to benotedthat the interval during which the disc 11 is being rotated i'srel-- ati-vely short and that' the crank is operatively coupled with thedisc through only a small part of'one complete rotation ofthe crank. Itis,- also, particularly emphasized an angular direction and at theperiphery of the disc 11, thereby starting dis 11 at a slow rate andstopping it by again gradi'iall'y slowing it down. Between these twoextremepo's'itions the speed ofthe. disc i11- creases to a maximumandth-en dies'down again as the crank approaches the finish of itsworking stroke with reference to the 1 disc 11. In this manner a suddenjar to the disc, and consequently to the feeding apparatus, is avoidedand therefore the maflanges 23,. (see Figure 6) ,which seatragainsttheunder -side of the'dis'c 11. It, also, is provided with a cam face 23against which i 'the projection of the crank is adapted to strike as thecrank rocks into operative position, asmay be seen from Figure 4. Thiscatch may be conveniently carried by a curved sheet I'neta'l member. 24which, adj acent its lower portion, is loosely held to the frame bymeans of screws 2'5. A spring 26 urges the; catch outwardly intoengaging position.

The stamping mechanism may comprise a stamping member 27 of any desiredtype, adapted to be-inked by a pad 28' and to be operated by the forkedarms 29, s-ucli'a'rms being guided byan upwardly projecting pin 30. Thestamping device 18 provided with. an. apertured bottom plate 31 whichloose washers 35. A buffer spring 36 is positioned between these washersand the transverse portion of the arms 29.

At a point intermediate the ends of the lever 32 a pair of links 37 arepivotally mounted and extend downwardly upon opposite sides of themachine. Their lower ends are joined by means of a transverse rod 38whose middle portion is secured to an intermediate point upon a lever39. This lever 39 is pivotally mounted at 40 upon the uprights 2 andprojects outwardly beneath the shaft 14. A cam 41 is rigidly securedupon the shaft 14 and is adapted to depress the outer end of the lever.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows :The cans 7 are passed bygravity, or other means, along the feedway. As the crank 19 rotates, itreleases the catch 22 and enters, one of the slots 12, thereby impartinga relatively quick motion to the feeding mechanism and positioning thecan directly over the shaft 9 and beneath the plate 31 of the stampingapparatus, as may be seen from Figure 3. The can is allowed to dwell inthis position while the crank executes the remainder of its stroke. Inthe meantime the cam 41 depresses the lever 39 and actuates the,stamping device to impress the proper marking upon the can. As the crankenters the next slot it again releases the catch and moves the feedingmechanism one step farther, thereby discharging the can and elevatingthe second can. The stamping mechanism operates after the crank leavesthe slot and this cycle of operation is repeated indefinitely and at arelatively rapid rate.

It will be seen from this disclosure vthat an extremely simple,practical, and efiicient mechanism has been provided for transferringcontinuous rotary motion into intermittent motion.

' It will, also, be seen that a device has been provided which utilizesthis step by step feature and individually handles a large number ofarticles in a very short space of time.

It will be further seen that extreme simpli'city is attained in thismachine and that thereare relatively very few parts and such parts asare employed are of rugged and substantial design.

I claim 1. Mechanism for converting continuous rotary motion intointermittent motion comprising a revolubly mounted crank having aprojection adjacent its outer end, a movably mounted member having aplurality of slots adapted to successively receive said project-ionduring a portion of a revolution of said crank, and means, releasable bysaid projection, for locking said member When said projection is freefrom engagement with said member.

2. Mechanism for converting continuous rotary motion into intermittentrotary motion comprising a revoluble shaft, a crank mounted thereon andhaving a projection,

a second revoluble shaft, a disc mounted upon said second shaft andhaving a plurality of radial slots adapted to successively receive saidprojection during a portion of a revolution of said crank, said dischaving a plurality of peripheral notches, and a movably mounted springpressed catch adapted to seat in said notches When said projection isfree from engagement with said slots, said catch having a cam faceadapted to cooperate with said projection to disengage said catch Whensaid projection enters a slot.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand atOconomoWoc, in the county of Waukesha and State of Wisconsin.

LEWVEAN L. BOLSTEAD.

